Social media platforms represent an unprecedented opportunity in terms of user data, insight and, ultimately, audience reach. There are now more than 2.3 billion active social media users in the world across the various platforms – and importantly, up to 87% of Millennials, the next generation of consumers, utilize social to stay connected and up-to-date with friends, family and news events.

But social is also different from most ad options that have come before it. The ‘social’ element is becoming ever more important – it’s not just about being able to reach these users by broadcasting your message, it’s also about hearing them and gaining understanding about their preferences and interests in order to better tailor and individualize your content.

Of course, ideally this would be the approach of any advertising option, but the proliferation of social platforms has made it possible to tune in to not only what your audience is talking about, but how each individual person is responding to your content and their related behaviors. This makes social an incredibly powerful marketing tool – but in order to maximize that opportunity, you need to also have an understanding of how each generation is utilizing social platforms in order to reach them where they’re active and cater to those interests.

This new infographic from Webpage FX looks at some of the key usage stats for the major platforms, as well as some generation-specific insights to help marketers get a better understanding of their audience.

Article Written by Andrew Hutchinson of Social Media Today